Trump to travel to UK, but not for state visit

Donald Trump's visit to the U.K., expected to take place in the second half of this year, will likely be a working visit, not a state visit, No. 10 Downing Street said Thursday.

That means Trump would hold meetings with government ministers but would not meet Queen Elizabeth. The prospect of the U.S. president spending time with the monarch had been a major source of the opposition to a Trump visit.

Theresa May and Trump held talks in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, with the president saying they have “a really great relationship.” They were scheduled to meet for 30 minutes but chatted for an extra 10 minutes on top of that. Downing Street said the chemistry between the two leaders was "good," adding: “It was a good conversation, I think a lot of people in the room contributed."

Trump said “it’s an honor to be with Prime Minister May, and we’ve had a great discussion. We’re on the same wavelength, I think on every respect.

“The prime minister and myself have had a really great relationship, although some people don’t necessarily believe that, but I can tell you, I have a tremendous respect for the prime minister and the job she’s doing. And I think the feeling is mutual from the standpoint of liking each other a lot.”

According to Downing Street, “the only conversation about the visit was about arranging for a date later in the year.

“I think it is clear that the president wants to come and that is why we are working on the plans.”

The president’s face-to-face meeting with his British counterpart comes two weeks after he abruptly announced on Twitter that he had canceled a planned trip to London. Trump blamed the cancellation on his predecessor, President Barack Obama, writing online that the Obama administration had made a “bad deal” in relocating the U.S. embassy in London even though that decision had been made by former President George W. Bush.

That canceled visit was not discussed, May's team said. The leaders also did not discuss Trump retweeting racist messages from the extreme-right Britain First group (a spokesman for May said at the time that “It is wrong for the president to have done this” and that Britain First relies on “hate-filled narratives to peddle lies and stoke tensions”), Prince Harry's wedding or Trump's decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.